Name
The formal name "Nix", from the Greek goddess of darkness and night and mother of Charon, was announced on June 21, 2006 on IAU Circular 8723, where the designation Pluto II is also given. Together with Hydra (Pluto's third moon) the initials are those of the New Horizons probe. The initial proposal was to use the classical spelling Nyx, but to avoid confusion with the asteroid 3908 Nyx the spelling was changed to Nix. The USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature states that Nix is the "Egyptian spelling", while Jürgen Blunck explains it as the "Spanish translation" of the Greek name.
Read more about this topic: Nix (moon)
Famous quotes containing the word name:
“What is it? a learned man
Could give it a clumsy name.
Let him name it who can,
The beauty would be the same.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Name any name and then remember everybody you ever knew who bore than name. Are they all alike. I think so.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)